The Bassline for a Bonanza

The Crystal Box

So uhhh... I lied, and we're back to Crystal Island this chapter. Why? Because im trying to do three chapters for each group at a time, and Echo and Chewy already got their three chapters. Can't let them get all the attention :p

So anyways...

A few days had passed on Crystal Island. They did get to meet the wubbox they saw before, but it'll get to shine another time. Taffy and Tappa spent the majority of the time exploring the library in search of anything that could help them get home. Meanwhile, Rizz explored the rest of the castle and island in search of anything he could lick or entertain himself with. Euphoria and Inertia hovered over him near constantly, fearful of him breaking something or getting himself hurt.

The library was huge. It was taking forever to search. And while the rest of the monster world seemed oblivious of Crystal Island, the monsters here clearly knew about everything else. There were books on every other known island, the living sea, every other monster and critter. Taffy thought it odd as he took a mental note of this. Its odd how they know so much about the rest of the world, but no one knew about them. And it only felt weirder as one particular book sparked his interest. A deep blue hard cover book, seemingly about supernaturals. He sat on the cold tiled floor with his back against the bookshelf and flipped the book open. Everything written there seemed correct, though it was almost unnerving how in-depth the book went. Curiously, Taffy quickly flicked to the page on thwoks to see what they might know about him.

"That is you, yes?"

Taffy was abruptly interrupted by Euphoria's gentle coo behind him. Startled, he cocked his head back and slammed the book shut, accidentally squishing his thumb inside.

"What the- ow!!" He quickly pulled his thumb out and held it in his mouth as if it'd make it feel better.

"Oh, I did not mean to scare you, my apologies." Euphoria chirped as she leaped down from the bookshelf she clung too and sat next to Taffy.

"That's the 5th time you've snuck up on me! Put a bell on or something, jeez."

"Again, I apologize, Taffy. However, your timidness aside, I see you have finally taken interest in one of our books. Why this one?"

Taffy took a moment to come up with an answer. He couldn't tell her it was suspicious or weird. "Well, uh..." She then cut him off with a helpful excuse. "Do you just miss your family?" Taffy gave a sharp but relieved sigh and nodded. "I understand." She nearly whispered as she gently wrapped a wing around him. It was probably meant to comfort him, but her contact always managed to make him feel uncomfortable. So he pulled away from her embrace, as nicely as he could. Euphoria understood and took a step away from him.

"Well, I will let you continue your research then."

"Thanks..." Taffy slowly relaxed as he watched her turn and leave, probably on her way to bother Tappa Tappa instead. He then got up and held the book up to his chest, kind of hugging it. He was going to hold onto this one. He brought it back to the bedroom he'd been sleeping in, hoping to get more peace there. The book was tossed onto the bed. Though it bounced and flipped over a couple of times, allowing a loose paper to slip out and drift down to the floor. Taffy knelt down to pick it up when he then noticed something something underneath the bed, just barely visible in the dark. His curiosity once again got the better of him, and he reached under and grabbed what at first felt like a smooth rock. But as he pulled it out and the sunlight from the open window shown on it, he could see it was a small crystal box.

"When did this get here..?" He mumbled to himself.

He sat the loose paper under the book so it wouldn't slip away again, and he sat next to it while inspecting the box. He tried to pry it open, but it was locked. Deciding that was enough investigating for one day, he set it on the book and then moved them both to the side. Then, as usual, there was another interruption as Rizz burst in. He threw himself onto the bed, almost sending Taffy flying off.

"Taffy! You are so not gonna believe what happened today!"

Taffy groaned and turned to face his brother on the bed. "Probably not, but I'm sure you're dying to tell me anyway."

"There's a massive cave all through the island! Inertia showed me around! It is SO pretty down there, and there's a lake with glowing water!" Rizz squealed as he rolled around on the bed, unable to contain his excitement for the topic.

"Glowing water? Yeah, you were right, I don't believe that. You're gonna have to show me." Taffy smirked, leaning in a little.

"Suddenly interested, huh?" Rizz giggled. "We can go see it later tonight!"

"Why not now?"

"Cuz if we go at night, it'll set the mood!" Rizz then rolled off the bed and sprung up. "Hey, what's that??" He pointed at the small box Taffy had found.

Taffy was a little confused by what he said, but Rizz is always saying weird stuff, so he shrugs it off. "Oh, I found it under the bed before you came in. I think it's some kind of jewelry box? But it's locked."

Rizz took it and inspected it the same way Taffy had, before trying to pick the lock with one of his nails. "That's not gonna work." Taffy scoffed. Though he was quickly silenced by a small click. It worked! He scrambled to Rizz's side to see what was in the box. They slowly flipped the lid back only to see a small charm of what looked like a new element symbol.

"Ooh! Do you think that's Euphoria's and Inertia's element?" Rizz asked his brother as he lifted the charm up and held it in the light. It was made of crystal, so the light shown through it and  colored the room. Taffy shrugged and looked to see if there was anything else in the box. There was indeed. A paper was folded up and set in the bottom of the box. Once taken out, it unfolded to reveal a map. A map Taffy quickly realized would help them get home!

(Aaaahhhh I'm getting so bad at this lol XP)